


The Boy in the Moon

by I_Am_Your_Dentist



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-20
Updated: 2013-03-20
Packaged: 2017-12-05 21:13:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/727997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Am_Your_Dentist/pseuds/I_Am_Your_Dentist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The line of Tsars is long and proud, but the moon needs a leader. With no heir, Manny must choose a successor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Boy in the Moon

**Author's Note:**

> As a response to a head canon that Manny can one day die.

It was something that none of them ever liked to think about. Taboo to even think of, let alone speak. Manny was their leader, as well as their friend. He had given them all their immortality. For him to die…it was inconceivable.

And yet, so inevitable.

Manny wasn’t like the rest of them. His people lived a long life, and they had powers far beyond comprehension. Yet they were mortal. Ironically, he could bestow immortality onto anyone he chose, save himself.

There was something almost regal about him as they all gathered. For some, like Jack, it was their first time seeing the Tsar face-to-face, rather than his large ship in the sky that served as their moon. Even as they knew he was dying, he held his head high and tapped his cane on the floor of North’s workshop. The crystal emerged, the one that had chosen Jack. The one that now would choose a new successor to the title of man in the moon, the leader of the guardians.

When they all saw Jamie’s face reflected in the crystalline surface, none of them could say they were particularly surprised.

They summoned Jamie to the Pole, sending Jack to fetch him using one of North’s globes. For a moment, he was overcome with wonder at the amazing workshop. Even well into his twenties, he still retained the innocence of childhood. When he saw Manny, he stilled, and a sad smile spread across his face.

“It’s time, then?” The little man nodded and Jamie bit his lip. “Can I say goodbye? To…my family?” They granted him that much, at least. After all, though he might see them every day, they would never again see him.

Manny took him, then, with a short and sad goodbye to all the friends he’d accumulated. Good, loyal people whom he would miss every day. When they looked at the moon now, he wouldn’t be smiling back.

He went to press the button that would transport him back to his ship, but Jack stopped him with a cry of, “wait!” He ran to stand with them. “I want to…go with you.”

Jamie stared. “But Jack…you can finally be seen by kids. You’re a guardian. You can’t just give that up for me.”

Jack just smiled. “Without you, Jamie, I’d be nothing. I want to be there to guard over you, and make sure you have a long reign as Tsar.” He glanced to Manny to make sure it was okay and the little man just shook his head with a laugh. He pressed the button and all three of them disappeared.

Off to the moon, where the reign of the new Tsar would begin.


End file.
